Improvement in billiard-table tops



W. G. MORSE.

Billiard-Table Tops.

Patented April 28, 1874.

INVENTOR.

r'rnn STATES PATENT FFIG'E.

WILLIAM MORSE, OF PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN BlLLlARD-TABLE TOPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 150,18 1, dated April 28, 1874; application filed March 13, 1874.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM G. MORSE, of Plainfield, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Construction of Table- Tops, of which the following is a specification: The object of this invention is to construct table-tops or beds for billiard or other gaming tables or platforms, or for any purpose where a true bed or surface of wood is required, in such manner as to avoid the usual warping, springing, twisting, and splitting occasioned by atmospheric changes of any sort, whether caused by heat, moisture, or otherwise upon the material used, so that the bed will remain whole, straight, true, and complete in all re spects; and also to economize greatly in the construction of these table-tops, so as to make light, portable, and economical gaming-tables, and other similar work, which shall be durable and reliable. In the accompanying drawings making part of this specification, Figure l is a perspective view of a top or bed for a billiard-table embodying my invention, and with portions of the bed removed so as to show the construction; and Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same inverted, so as to exhibit the construction more clearly.

The narrow strips of wood a a a I usually make about seven-eighths of an inch thick, and one and one-fourth of an inch wide, and firmly and closely attach them to the bedpieces I) b b by any proper fastening device, 6 e c, Fig. 2, (preferably screws,) and usually on the under side, as shown, and always without glue, and with only one screw or fastening, or with two or more fastenings placed as nearly as practicable in direct line lengthwise of the strip, as each crossing of the strip with the bed-piece, and their strips a a (0, although not glued together, are at first made to fit closely to but to be nearly independent of one another, being connected only by some loose attachment, such as the dowel-pins c c 0, one or more between each pair of the bed-pieces b b b, for the purpose of keeping them even on the surface, which dowel-pins may be made of stout smooth iron wire. The object and the effect of this arrangement are that each strip can shrink freely toward the points of its own attachment, and also from the others, without causing any warping, springing, or twisting; and when their strips (being narrow) shrink from one another, the spaces thus made between them are found to be so slight as not to affect the rolling of the balls, even before the cloth is applied to the table. The bedpieces I) b b are preferably made in two pieces,

as shown, the first piece, as at b, Fig. 2, being screwed to the narrow strips a a a, after which the other part is glued firmly to that. Fig. 2 shows a part of this last piece I) cut away to show this manner of construction, which is favorable to strength, and a clear, smooth ap pearance of the platform upon the top. The diagonal braces 01 d d, which are attached to the bed-pieces b b I) and the angle-blocks f f f, are not placed in broken or angle lines in the usual way for supporting the weight of a platform and to prevent deflection of the same, but they are placed in right lines and all the way along considerably apart from the board or surface braced, and are firmly attached at the extreme ends to the solid angle-blocks f f f, for the purpose of preventing the platform from being twisted, and thereby weakened when handled. I

I do not claim, broadly, the making of table-tops, &c., of narrow pieces of wood, nor the mere doweling together of two or more pieces to keep them even upon the surface, as I am aware that these are not new but I claim as my invention-- 1. In combination, the series of narrow strips of wood a a a with the bed-pieces b I) b, when each strip is attached to the bedpieces I) b I) by a single fastening, or by two or more fastenings placed as nearly as practicable in direct line lengthwise of the strip, and without the use of glue or other adhesive substance either between the strips or between the strips and bed-pieces, substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

2. The combination, with the narrow strips of wood a a a, when attached to the bed-pieces b b I) by a single fastening, or by two or more fastenings placed as nearly as practicable in direct line lengthwise of the strips, and without glue between the strips or between the strips and bed-pieces, as hereinbefore described, of the dowel-pins or loose attachments 0 0 0, 'applied to the strips a at a as points between the bed-pieces, substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

3. In combination with the bed and with the bed-pieces to which the bed is directly secured, the continuous diagonal braces d d, placed in right lines and parallel with the bed, but not in contact therewith and secured to the bed pieces, substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

WM G. MORSE. W'itnesses:

M. M. ROHRER, THOMAS A. MITCHELL. 

